Theories of colour perception

Theories of colour perception explain how our brains interpret visual information. The "trichromatic theory" suggests our eyes detect three types of cone cells, each sensitive to red, green, or blue light; combining signals creates the full spectrum of colours. The "opponent-process theory" proposes that our brains process colours in pairs—red vs. green, blue vs. yellow— which explains phenomena like afterimages. Together, these theories help us understand how we perceive and differentiate colours, with our visual system combining sensory input from the eyes and interpretative processing in the brain to produce the rich palette we see.